Results from @WomenSpinouts
70% of UK University Spinouts are from @RussellGroup institutions
13% of Spinouts have a woman on their founding team
80% of Spinouts have all-men teams
Royal College of Art has 43% of their Spinouts with a woman on their founding team

@EdinburghUni has the most spinouts from a Scottish University followed closely by @UniStrathclyde

Women leading spinouts often don't recognise gendered barriers, but in sharing their experience it is clear there are gendered differences in the barriers faced by spinout founders.

women with younger children are more likely to cite the appeal of flexibility is a key motivator for founding spinouts #InclusionMatters2020 the appeal of flexibility is shared by all founders but for a variety of reasons

Institutions rarely allocate time for working on spinout development. Support from institutions is inconsistent.

Investment is a big challenge and these spaces are very male-dominated. Women experienced discrimination and not being taken seriously in investment spaces.

Entering into the spinout space women begin to experience the stereotypes faced by women in business - women CEOs accused of 'sleeping your way to the top'

Barriers to academic entrepreneurship experienced by ECRs:
- lack of knowledge
- conditions of contemporary academia heightening sense of risk
- uncertainty around the actual process
ECRs feel it's their fault for not knowing these things/accessing resources

It's important to acknowledge the structural nature of these inequalities and not pass responsibility on to ECRs as individuals.

Spinouts are not representative. Entrepreneurial training is not inclusive. We need better role models so people can see themselves in these opportunities.

Recommendations:
- we need better data, it has to be collected and monitored by Institutions and embed in their EDI activities
- inclusive, visible role models and mentors
- lack of inclusion is a structural issue. STOP FIXING THE WOMEN!

Steps to academic entrepreneurship:
- learn what resources as available at your institution: search for innovation, technology exchange, commercialisation of research, technology transfer office, research office, consultancy etc.

@EdinInnovations has some good resources available: https://edinburgh-innovations.ed.ac.uk/ 

thank you to Dr Heather Griffiths @FlexiblePhD and Dr Charoula Tzanakou @ctzanakou for such an interesting and engaging seminar!